


Paint My Spirit Gold

by inkingbrushes



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, One Shot, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-07
Updated: 2013-01-07
Packaged: 2017-11-24 01:19:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/628680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkingbrushes/pseuds/inkingbrushes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If there’s anything Niall thinks will burn so, so bright, then it’s Harry and Louis. Or, Harry and Louis, all the love in them and the little messes in between through Niall's eyes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Paint My Spirit Gold

**Author's Note:**

> Written a few months ago but only gotten to posting it now. Anyway.

If there’s anything in the world that Niall thinks will burn so, so bright, then it’s Louis and Harry. 

He doesn’t know how it’s come to the point where when he thinks of one boy, his mind automatically links it to the other. But he isn’t so surprised at that, anyway, because Louis and Harry are the same. It’s always LouisandHarry, HarryandLouis, not one without the other and very rarely apart. Niall’s found it cute at the start, because, let’s face it, Niall’s seen the two of them grow up and grow into each other. They’ve practically lived in each other’s back pockets and the rest of the band’s seen just how closer they’ve gotten, just how they started, how they’ve become. 

And just as Niall’s seen them from the very start, he dreads the day that he sees them at their end. But he looks at Harry and Louis, he looks at them now, Louis tugging on a bow tie around Harry’s neck and Harry hunching a bit to accommodate Louis and his height, and Niall thinks that maybe there won’t be an ending for them. 

The world might be designed with a beginning and an end but Niall’s pretty sure the world won’t end in a break up. He thinks the same for Louis and Harry because they are a world all on their own, that if they do have to end, then it’s because they’ve burned so bright for so long that it’s now time to burn out, but they’ll do it together. It’s like a star dying, really. Beautiful and tragic but at the same time, they’re still there, right? Stars don’t really go away, their lights might fade but they’d still be there, twinkling weakly, not existing to those who don’t know, and. Well. 

Well, now Niall thinks that Louis and Harry are like faded stars. Their love might be so bright for each other but unless you knew them, unless you truly saw them, then you’d have no idea just how real and true they were. As the time goes by, Niall isn’t so sure that they’d end up like dying stars because right now, they are stars who’ve lost their light, simply because everyone else can’t see it. But Niall can, and so can everyone else in the band and that’s what matters. 

He hears Louis say the same thing to Harry - “They know, Haz. It’s okay. Everyone’ll know someday.” 

And Niall maybe hears his heart break a bit at that, because he loves Louis and Harry, he loves them both so much that he thinks he’ll drop everything for just them to be happy. It’s selfless and Niall’s always been selfless. He’s had a good time, he admits, the time of his fucking life, but Louis and Harry? It’s all fun and game until, well, until it’s not and it’s come to that point of their relationship that Niall knows they’re both thinking of something more, wanting something so much more public. 

It’s ridiculous how hard management is on them, just how they try so damn hard to steer them into the direction that they want. Niall sees the tension in their shoulders and he just looks down, tries to give them space. It’s started as that, tension and hard lines. But it’s been so long now and they’re both just so tired that Niall is afraid they’ve stopped fighting for it. 

It’s wrong, they’ll never stop fighting for it but now, their shoulders have slackened and they look so tired and weak and they just want to get it over and done with, can’t wait for all of this to finish so they’d at least have each other to turn to.

They’ve always had each other, hadn’t they? Niall’s seen the way they gravitate towards each other even when they’re not supposed to. He sees the glances they throw each other during performances and interviews and it hurts him sometimes how they both have to be physically torn apart from each other, how they can’t even sit together anymore because what, because fucking what?

He doesn’t know or doesn’t remember how he’s fallen into them like this - he just wants them to be happy, so so happy with each other. And they are, but the thing is, as much as Louis and Harry want it, Niall also wants for everyone to know, to see just how happy they make each other.

Love’s supposed to be beautiful, isn’t it? 

Louis and Harry are beautiful but it’s such a shame nobody really sees it. 

— 

When they fight, Niall tries to avoid both of them at the same time. Louis either seeks out Zayn and Harry Liam and they both can’t possibly seek Niall out because Niall avoids them, doesn’t want to deal with them when they’re at their worst for each other because he doesn’t want to see them like that. He sees the tension and the anger in them both when their fights are left unresolved and it threatens to hurt everybody around them, not just each other, and Niall hates it. Hates how all of them have grown so dependent on each other that just the lost of Louis and Harry’s dynamics are shaking them, making their whole world crumble, bit by bit. 

One time, when he hears the door to their flat close with a bang, Niall cringes because he lives just the floor above from them. He hears another door fling shut and he sighs, buries his face into a throw pillow. Harry will go to Zayn or maybe Liam and Louis will lock himself in their bedroom and avoid all human confrontation and take it out by maybe ripping and beating himself up.

There’s a knock on his door, three fast knocks that make Niall still, everything growing cold. He hasn’t dealt with either of them during their fights for months now because he’s done quite the job at avoiding them but it’s no use now. 

Niall goes up to open the door and there’s Harry, red eyed Harry with dark bruises underneath his eyes and lower lip in between his teeth, hand still clenched at his side as if he was getting ready to hammer some more on Niall’s door.

They don’t really say anything to each other. Harry just slips into Niall’s room and Niall closes the door behind him. Harry makes his way to the coach and plops himself on top, curls his legs underneath him and just stares at the empty tv screen.

Niall settles beside him, lifts his legs up and it’s all rigid tension and awkward because they both know they aren’t supposed to even be here when times are this tough. 

Because Niall provides them all the support they need on stage, on camera and off the cameras. He pushes them into each other and it’s really all fun and games until Louis and Harry snap away from and at each other. 

Whether Harry understands if Niall really only means the best by staying away and letting the others deal with their anger, Niall doesn’t know. But Harry’s here now and Harry’s not even looking angry anymore. He looks tired, and Niall’s afraid that one day he’ll look like he’s just given up. They can’t, he won’t. Nobody will let that happen to them.

He’ll hold them both together, he’ll hold them high up. He’ll let all the lights shine down on them and let everyone see, he’ll let the stars burn so bright that it’d hurt everyone else but it’s love and the love Louis and Harry have for each other is enough for Niall to want to fight for it, too. 

Finally, Niall puts a hand on Harry’s knee and Harry relaxes and lets out a long, deep sigh. 

Harry looks at him through the fringe of his curls and then smiles, just a tiny little smile that Niall catches before his face falls again and he looks back at the empty screen. 

“Hey, hey.” Niall tries to say, finds that words really aren’t enough in times like this. “Harry.” He tugs on Harry’s shoulder and brings him up and Niall does the only thing he knows he’ll want when he goes through this. He wraps an arm around Harry and brings him close in a hug and when Harry relaxes into the embrace, Niall brings his other hand around Harry and he presses his forehead against his and he looks at Harry, so small and so frail looking right now, into those green eyes that’s captured Louis so completely, and he closes his own, draws in a shaky breath and then just pats Harry on the back. 

Harry hugs him back and they stay like that.

There are no words between them. Harry doesn’t lash out about Louis and he doesn’t whine or complain and he doesn’t say anything, really. Harry and Louis could both say the sweetest words to each other but at the same time, they knew just how to tear each other apart and it’s dangerous. But right now, where Harry might be lost in a world of LouisLouisLouis, he’s feeling secured and safe with Niall and Niall just gives him the warmth and the security and the reassurance that he hopes will get him through the rest of today. 

Harry finally draws out a shuddering breath and Niall hasn’t even noticed the dampness in Harry’s cheeks because he’s been crying and it’s awful and painful that Harry could break down like this, so silently and in his arms, and Niall can’t even offer him any words, just the softest reassurance that he can give through a hug. 

Harry gives him a weak little squeeze in reply and that’s enough for Niall. Harry’s reassured him that he’s alright, he’s going to be okay and - Thank you, Niall.

Niall watches him leave, Harry looking over his shoulder, the greens in his eyes a little bit brighter now compared to earlier. He hears the door close and after a while hears their door from below open. It’s eleven now and the building is silent and when he tries hard, he can hear just the tiniest bit of sound, of movement. He hears another door close and it’s come from their bedroom, probably, and he heaves a sigh when he doesn’t hear anything else, assumes that they’re both just sitting there and resolving any sort of conflict and tension. 

Come morning, Louis bounds up to him and tackles him into the recording room’s couch and presses a sloppy little kiss on his cheek, grin bright.

“Tommo!” Niall says, sheepish when Louis finally pulls away, but not before patting Niall one more time on the cheek. 

He flashes Niall a softer smile now, and the blues in his eyes are gentle, even, and Niall understands how this is Louis’ thank you for taking care of Harry the other night, for holding him together and for being there. Niall smirks, shakes his head as if to say that it’s nothing, that he’ll do it over and over again just so he could see them both messing around again as if a whole fight hadn’t just thrown them off completely each other. 

—

There are days where Louis and Harry are so painfully obvious that it isn’t painful anymore. One day, either of them are going to slip up. Maybe it’s Louis or maybe it’s Harry or maybe it’s Liam, even. With his little comments about their relationship, like it’s the most casual and normal thing ever. Everyone passes it off as a joke but Niall knows Liam’s just as supportive as them. 

Everyone’s supportive of Louis and Harry, really. It’s hard not to be when you’re five boys in a boy band that’s taking over the world and it’s ridiculous and crazy and absolutely overwhelming but at the end of the day, when the camera flashes have died down, you’re only left with the company of the four other boys whom you share this life with and it’s hard to keep much of anything a secret. 

That’s the thing between them all. Nothing ever stays hidden or a secret. It’s all out or nothing. And that’s why Niall thinks they’re all so close. Family, brothers, best friends. That’s why they’re all invested in Louis and Harry, because they were all there from the very start and they can’t just let something so delicate and precious crumble. They won’t. 

—

Their tour has ended and they’re all ready to fall back into the two weeks of silence that they’re all so excited about. Louis and Harry are excited for the week that they’ll have all to themselves and Niall and everyone else is excited to go home. 

That is, until everything just cracked again. 

Louis’ not to go back to England, he’s to go to France with her and enough is enough. If this isn’t where Harry draws the line, then Niall has no idea where. Everybody has something to say about the topic, everybody except for Harry. 

Liam’s voice is loud as he says, “We’re all supposed to go home.” And then there’s Zayn on the side, brown eyes intense and he looks angry now. They’ve had a good run in America and they need rest. All of them need a break. “Lou’s coming with us.” Zayn adds and Louis looks like he’s about to cry but he breaks into a shaky little breath instead. 

Niall is seated next to Harry on the couch and he feels Harry stiffen beside him, the green eyes narrowing. 

Louis’ struggling to win this argument, saying, over and over again, “My family. I need to see my family.” And Liam nods at him and Zayn turns away because it’s sick and disgusting how they won’t even let him see his family.

Niall agrees, feels Zayn sit beside him. He smells of smoke and of anger and bitterness. He hears Zayn murmur under his breath, “Fucking sick.” And it’s laced with so much distrust to their own management and it’s true, all of it is true. 

They all just want a break and why the hell can’t they even have one, anyway? Liam’s going home. Zayn’s going home. Niall’s going home. Harry’s going home. Louis - Louis should go home, too. Louis has it the hardest, Niall thinks. Always so pressured to pull himself together, always the one thrown into the lions and into a bloody ocean full of sharks. Always, always Louis who takes the fall or either sacrifices himself for the band, for Harry. 

Everybody’s said their piece, everybody’s yelled out disagreements and Louis just keeps on saying, his voice hoarse and breaking, “I - I’ll come visit her. In Manchester, I’ll visit her and spend the day with her but just let me go home, please.” And Niall’s never really heard Louis plead this brokenly, this openly in front of them but they’re a band and they’re brothers more than ever and it’s painful, it wrecks at his heart and it makes his blood boil.

Zayn has had enough, he stands up from his place on the couch, grabs his pack of cigarettes on the table and shoulders his way out of the door, past one of their publicists and he hates how this has become of all of them. Hates it, hates it a lot. 

Liam is looking defeated and frustrated and this isn’t new but it’s rare. Liam who is so in control of his anger and his emotions, who is now looking like he’ll break apart, too. The last thing he says to Louis, all quiet and voice hushed and trying not to glare too hard at their manager is, “We’re more than just a band, Lou.” And then he leaves, follows after Zayn to try and calm him down.

Harry is quiet and while everyone’s barked at their manager and while Louis’ pleaded on end, he still hasn’t said anything. Carefully, he stands up and Louis’ eyes meet him across the room and he shakes his head, just a minute little movement. “They’ll never take no for an answer.” Is all he says before he walks out of the room, too. 

Louis is left staring at their manager and Niall is curled up on the couch and this is so wrong that Niall feels his hands shake. Finally, Louis turns his back away and there’s that look in their manager’s eyes. It’s one of barely enough pity but triumph, like she’d just won a great battle. Paul stands aside to let her pass and Niall notices the look in his eyes and it’s not reflected in their manager’s. Paul looks like he understands, that he’s truly sorry for all of this mess and that there will be better days for them, that while the battle’s lost, one sure day they’ll win the war. He leaves Louis and Niall in the room then, the door clicking quietly to a shut behind him.

Niall looks at Louis and he sees just how pale he’s gotten, how bitten his bottom lip is and how sallow he looks, like in that single argument he’s just lost all the life in him. The golden tan of his skin has turned paler and he looks limper, the blue in his eyes fading a bit. Niall registers that this is how a star might look when they’re in the process of dying, slowly losing their light. He snaps out of it and reaches a hand to Louis, fingers clasping on his wrist and he looks at him, really looks at him and he doesn’t see Louis Tomlinson from One Direction, he sees Louis Tomlinson, his best friend, the guy he’s known since X Factor and the guy who’s been with him every step of the way. The same Louis who’s made him laugh and who’s given him a proper cuddle whenever he felt too homesick. But this Louis also looks sad and defeated, like he’s just fed up but it’s all still not enough for him to say that he’s done. 

“I tried.” Louis says brokenly and Niall just nods his head. He was there, he saw it. They all said something.

“We all did, Lou.” Niall murmurs and Louis just runs his free hand through his hair. His hand is shaking and its cold now to Niall’s touch. 

“I don’t get how they expect me to go to France with her.” Louis starts, his voice weak. He’s pressed close to Niall now and Niall just listens to him, has dropped his hold on Louis’ hand now. “One week with her. I just need to see my family. I promised my sisters and my mum and it’s not fair.” 

“It’s not fair for me and it’s not fair for my family, it’s not fucking fair for Harry and it’s not fair for Eleanor, either.” Because they all know Eleanor is just about as happy with this whole arrangement as Louis is. The times that Niall’s met her, she seemed embarrassed, shy, like there’s more things she’d rather do than pretend and lie to the whole world. She knows just how much she’s hurting them and Niall laughed at it once, told her that she’s only doing her job. They all are. But right now, he thinks that France wouldn’t sound too bad with her because she’s going to France and it’s just another holiday for the supposed girlfriend of One Direction member Louis Tomlinson. 

“It’s unfair.” Niall says when he sees Louis shut down into himself, hears nothing but the sound of his shallow breaths. “Lou, Louis, breathe.” Niall has a hand on his back and he hates this, hates how everything’s just crumbled and broken down like this in front of all of them, how he can’t do anything. How they’ve all tried so hard and how it’s all for nothing. Louis doesn’t cry, though, but he looks like he’s so close to breaking and if he does, Niall is sure that he’ll be here, picking up piece after piece of Louis Tomlinson and slowly but surely taping him back up. 

Harry walks into the room after an hour and he looks like he’s just finished crying, his eyes are rimmed red and the green in them look brighter and yeah, he’s definitely been crying. He strides over towards them and drops down to the floor in front of Louis, fitting himself in the space of his legs and Niall scoots a little ways off to the other side of the couch to give them a little bit of room, a little bit of space. 

Harry reaches up to frame Louis’ face and he smiles. It’s a smile that’s meant only for them but Niall sees. At this point, he’s sure that Louis and Harry aren’t even aware that he’s in the same room as them and it’s incredible how everything and everyone just fades to black whenever they’re sucked into their own LouisandHarry vortex like this. 

Louis looks at Harry like he’s his saving grace and Harry presses a long and hard kiss to his forehead, swipes his thumb underneath Louis’ eyes because Louis is crying now, soft and silent tears and Harry is holding him together and this is why they’re so beautiful and so strong together.

Apart they’re just as amazing but together, it’s like a whole different story. 

Niall gets up and leaves because Louis’ face is buried in Harry’s shoulder now and he’s clutching onto the sleeve of Harry’s jacket so tight and Harry’s just whispering into his hair. Niall catches a “Love you, Lou. We’ll have the week after France, we’ll have so much more. It’s okay.” 

And then Niall closes the door behind him and not once has either Louis and Harry spared a glance as he left, because Niall knows in that single space of time and moment that neither of them even cared about anyone else but each other.

It’s strong and it’s destructive, their love, but it also builds and repairs and it puts them back together, it keeps them going. It’s amazing how at one point Louis can be so ruined and the next second Harry’s got him all tangled up in his embrace, he’s crying but they both know that they’re going to be okay, that this won’t last forever and one day they’ll truly have that happily ever after that they both laugh about, that they both just want so so bad. 

Niall rounds the corner to see Zayn sprawled on a couch and Liam sitting on top of a table. They both straighten up when they see Niall and Niall flashes them a grin and gives them a thumbs up. Louis might not be going home with them but at least for now, Louis and Harry are okay. 

All three of them draw in collective breaths and then release it in a sigh of relief. A couple of minutes after, Louis and Harry join them and they look tired but the color is back in their cheeks and their eyes are a little bit brighter now. Louis comes over to hug Niall and Harry joins them and Zayn jumps up from the couch to join, too, as Liam scrambles off the table and really, with all five of them like this, Niall doesn’t think anything could go wrong, that anything could break them apart or hurt them. 

They all end up laughing and Louis thanks each of them the way Louis Tomlinson does - with a ruffle of their hair and his hands thrown in the air and his voice high and loud saying, “Massive thank you, lads, for protecting my honor!” And Zayn calls him a twat and Liam says that he expects post cards from France from him and Louis promises he’s going to flood Harry’s mail with them, all hand written and decorated with hearts and Niall laughs when Louis says it’s a pity it’s not Nialler I’m going with because he’ll surely enjoy the food there and then they all laugh because they got through this mess together, as they always have. 

—

The hardest thing Niall’s ever seen Louis and Harry go through are the denials. Sure, they have fights because they both become so stressed but it’s nothing compared to how they both get after a denial. Interviews are the worst. Niall can still remember the first time it’s happened and Louis played it off after. The second time was much worst because Harry just shut down and Niall didn’t like it, didn’t like how Louis was sounding like it was all just them joking around.

Of course, in all of these, there hasn’t even been an actual denial. And maybe that’s the thing that management will never be able to get them do. To out right deny their relationship. They go about it with Eleanor and linking Harry to dozens of girls every other night and parties with Nick but not once have they actually said that no, we aren’t in a relationship. Niall can’t even imagine what that’d be like, thinks that he doesn’t want to be in the same room whenever that happens because he can’t, he won’t take how fake they’ll smile or how Harry’s eyes are going to lose their color, how Zayn will look like it’s not bothering them seeing his band-mates hurt like this or how sympathetic Liam’s going to look, how he’ll easily play it off as just concern for Louis and Harry as individuals and not as an actual couple when people ask why he’s been looking like that. Niall, though. 

Niall is much louder and jumpier and he revels in the beams and the grins and in all the lights and the happiness and he can’t quite get a firm hand on anything when the atmosphere suddenly turns sad and cold and then to burning and so fucking pissed off and angry. 

So when he sees the tweets, he immediately does a double take. He’s in his flat and he’s got the music turned up but everything in that moment just shuts down because Louis’ just lashed out, tore at a fan and cursed at them and oh wow, Niall’s never expected Louis to break like this.

He’s thought that when Louis did reach his breaking point, that it’d end with a confirmation of him and Harry, not this. Not pent up and angry Louis calling everything he held on to and believed in pure and utter bullshit.

His phone rings and he looks at it, sees that it’s Liam and he sighs. Liam is worried on the other end because he’s seen the tweets too and he says he’s been trying to get a hold on Harry or on Louis and neither of them have answered. 

Is this it, then? Through a tweet?

Niall laughs at it, bitter and cold because this isn’t like them at all. If they are ending, then it’s not through a bloody tweet. They’ve always burned so bright that they won’t settle for this - this is too quiet for them. 

He goes through his timeline some more and he sees more of it, sees how Louis’ attacked some of the fans and Niall cringes, thinks this is all too much. Finally, come afternoon, he calls Harry and Harry answers, his voice light and cheerful and Niall, for a second, thinks maybe he’s got the wrong phone number. He checks on caller ID and it’s Harry’s face and Harry’s name and Harry’s number on the screen but why does he sound so happy?

“You okay, mate?” Niall asks slowly and Harry’s breath stops before he says, “Yeah.” 

“Ni, listen.” Harry mutters, turning off the tv and Niall does the same with his music. “It’s not…Y’know it wasn’t Louis, right? He was with me the whole time it happened and it’s, I don’t know, it felt overwhelming seeing all of that happen and he didn’t even have his phone with him.” 

Niall ends the call after that and he sinks into his chair, thinks this is all too much, really. So they’ve taken to tweeting for him, to attacking his fans just so they could do that? 

That evening, they all meet up for dinner and Louis looks like he’s still angry, there’s a hardness to his jaw and a crease in his brows. 

“Too fucking much.” Louis says as he pulls up a chair. They’re at Zayn’s flat and for now, it’s just the five of them. 

Liam nods his head and Zayn puts his cigarette out on his kitchen counter. 

“It felt like I was watching a car crash.” Harry adds as he runs his fingers through Louis’ hair. Niall knows what he’s doing, they all are. Harry’s trying to ease the tension out, to get Louis to relax and just enjoy dinner with all five of them. 

“My mum, though.” Louis murmurs, but he’s leaning back into Harry’s touch, tilting his head up and he closes his eyes and finally, finally his face relaxes. 

“We know.” Liam says, settling into his own chair and they all look at each other from across the table, Harry finally taking the seat next to Louis and Zayn smelling less of cigarettes now and he’s not so riled up anymore, they’re all calmer and more relaxed and Niall’s the first to break the silence.

“Well, guess we have to celebrate then.” Niall raises his can of soda and he grins at them all, four sets of confused gazes meeting his. “Might’ve called it bullshit but they still didn’t outright say there wasn’t anything going on between you.” 

Harry laughs first, a surprised bark of laughter and slowly, Liam’s mouth curves into a smile and Zayn shakes his head, but he’s got a smile on, too. It’s Louis who laughs last but at least he’s laughing and saying, “You’re right. That’s right.”

—

Really, Niall can’t help it that he has a tendency to push Louis and Harry together. If his eyes travel back from them both, seeing just how they’re looking at each other, just how they’re singing the actual lyrics to the songs to one another and nobody knows. 

He places a hand on Harry’s shoulder, and then another on Louis’ and he casts them both a sweeping gaze, his grin hard to hide when Louis and Harry look at him and they smile, almost laugh. And Niall doesn’t care that they’re in front of a massive amount of people yet again, because it’s just such a little thing, this right here, playing bridge for Louis and Harry, between them. 

So when Harry sings his solo in What Makes You Beautiful and Louis not so discretely pinches his bum and Harry loses his train of focus and lets out a small little giggle, Niall looks down at his shoes and grins, because yeah, these two might be hiding from the world but to Niall and to all those who really knew about them, they weren’t really fooling anyone. 

—

Zayn texts them early on in the morning that he can’t make it for Louis’ football match but he’s sure to send Louis a picture message of him kissing his screen (Harry had rolled his eyes and Louis just laughed and showed it to them all because Zany Malik was apologizing through kissing his phone and taking a picture of it and sending it to Louis and really, Zayn. He says it was for good luck, the kiss, and then he quickly sends another text that says: Might not be much luck compared to Haz’s but y’know, might still work. And that’s that.). 

They all get to the venue early and Niall’s just running down the empty stadium with Liam and laughing until Harry arrives, coat thrown on a bench with Louis, who’s just looked like he’s gotten through a whole mob of girls (he has, signed plenty of autographs and taken a handful of pictures). Louis’ dragging him to the changing rooms and Harry’s laughing, throwing an arm around Louis’ shoulders and tugging him along with him, all playful. Niall’s holding Lux and he looks out to the whole stadium and the fans are starting to trickle in but Louis and Harry are gone and now and whatever good luck ritual they’re planning on in the changing rooms, Niall wants nothing to do with it. 

Harry comes out after a couple of minutes and Niall smirks at him, at his messed up hair and swollen lips and Harry blushes but he waves it off. Yeah, some good luck ritual. 

He shrugs on his (insanely large) coat back on and that’s when Niall notices the flash of blue underneath. “Nice shirt.” Niall comments and he’s smirking as Harry turns around to grin at him.

It’s that all too familiar grin again, when everything is right in the world of Louis and Harry, and Niall’s happy that it’s worked out, because, let’s face it, every time they hit a bump, it’s always everyone who’s affected. They’ll work everything out, that’s just the thing with Harry and Louis. 

Throughout the game, Niall can’t help but get lost in all the energy and the hype. And he doesn’t even care that there are professional cameras filming their stupid little victory dance every time Louis scores, that fans are eating all of this up. He remembers, for a second, that Eleanor’s here but she’s not with them and maybe that’s why Harry is so happy. 

That and seeing Louis play, of course. 

And then the game ends and it’s all too soon and Niall runs to meet Louis in the field and hugs him tight, Liam following suit and it’s everybody hugging Louis and congratulating him and Harry’s at the side, just smiling so proudly, green eyes positively twinkling because he’s more than happy and he’s more than pleased, because he’s so fucking proud of everything Louis is and everything Louis’ done, just everything about him and it’s so, so obvious like it’s just spilling out of Harry and Niall, really, really can’t help himself when Harry finally got to hug Louis, can’t help how he pushed Louis a little bit closer into the hug and who they both drew back with soft, secret little smiles because they think that smiling too widely at each other after a hug would make people speculate again and they can’t really think about that right now, not when everything is good and everything is right. 

Louis drives back to his granddad’s house in Harry’s car and Niall waves at them before he jumps into the assigned car for them, tripping over Liam and laughing as Lux bounces on his lap because it’s been a good day. 

—

Niall still thinks that although they’re like stars, their light will also last for a long, long time. Most humans who’ve seen a star shine or come to don’t live to see it burn out or die and the same thing goes for Louis and Harry. They are like shining stars who are going to burn so brightly that everyone, at some point, will have to look away. And they won’t look away because of all the pretenses or because of all the cover ups, no, they’ll look away from something that they finally believe is real and true because they can finally all see just how bright Louis and Harry are, just how strong they are together.

He’s sure that that day’s drawing in even closer, when the rest of the world can finally see the beautiful star that’s Harry and Louis.

And even if the two of them are a whole other world together and for each other, they’ll always be LouisandHarry for Niall, the boys he met through XFactor and the boys he’s grown up with ever since, the boys who’ve given him so much and whom he’ll do just about anything for, who’ll fight for them just as hard as they’re fighting for themselves. They’ll always be the brightest stars out there in the night sky, twinkling and shining and burning with the intensity of all of the world’s fire and they’ll keep going, togethertogthertogether.

**Author's Note:**

> Reposted from my tumblr: http://mylouver.tumblr.com/post/34398471529


End file.
